GUS G.: 'I've Achieved All The Things That I Ever Wanted In The Music Industry'

In a new interview with Metal Covenant, Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND, spoke about how he manages to have a safe and stable home life away from the lifestyle of rock and roll. He said: "Yeah, I spend time with my wife and our four cats, and we just enjoy life back in Greece whenever I'm not touring.

"I'm at a very happy place right now, because I've achieved all the things that I ever wanted in the music industry, so I have no regrets; I have no hang-ups; I'm not bitter about anything. I still have visions and things I wanna do, of course, but I'm really comfortable within life. I'm not in a struggling place in life. It has been good. Yeah, I have a good family with my wife, we're enjoying it, and we live in a nice place. It's all good. And I still do what I love. I make a good living out of that. I can't complain, really. I guess I belong in, like, maybe that little one or two percent of musicians who are able to do that. And times are not easy; times are not easy."

Gus added: "Yeah, we try to navigate. That has always been my philosophy about this. I try to navigate through the good and bad things, and the years are more and more difficult. And, you know, we're not, like, total rock stars that are millionaires or anything. We try to navigate and we still try to do what we love. That is happiness to me."

Gus has had an amazing rise within the scene and amassed an incredible body of work, both on the studio-album and worldwide touring fronts, starting with his early international work with the groups DREAM EVIL (Sweden),MYSTIC PROPHECY (Germany) and NIGHTRAGE (Greece). However, it was mainly the restless activity with his own band FIREWIND as well as his invitation to join Ozzy's band ranks for the Grammy-nominated "Scream" album release from 2010 and its consequent worldwide touring that fully boosted Gus's reputation and profile to be now considered one of the leading guitarists in the current metal/rock scene. Gus served as Ozzy's lead guitarist from 2009 to 2017, while also establishing himself as an acclaimed solo artist with albums like "I Am The Fire" and "Fearless".

In October 2021, Gus released his critically acclaimed solo affair titled "Quantum Leap" via AFM Records. Following an impressive music career of more than 20 years, nine record releases with FIREWIND, as well as recording and touring with the aforementioned acts, "Quantum Leap" was Gus's fourth and entirely instrumental solo album, featuring 10 tracks that both showcase the distinctive playing style Gus is known for yet taking fans into new territory.

Photo credit: Gustavo Sazes / AFM Records